Improved hammock



' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VALTER II. FORBUSH, OF BUFFALO, NEIV YORK, ASSIGNOR 'FO ELIAKIM B.FORBUSH, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVED HAMMOCK.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 33,675, dated November5, 1861.

To all whom it may concern: i

Be it known that I, WALTER H. FoRBUsH, of the city of Bualo, countyofErie, and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Soldier-sHammock 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which-- Figure I is a perspective View of my improvement,showing the frame unfolded and set up and the hammock suspended.thereon. Fig. II is a top plan of the frame as folded up. Fig. III is abottom plan of the same. Fig. IV is a side elevation of same. Fig. V isa plan of the hammock. Fig. VI is a top plan of the frame and hammock asfolded up for transportation or stowage.

The nature of my invention relates to devising and constructing afolding portable framel for supporting a hammock, and in the combinationof a hammock therewith in such manner that the hammock may be suspendedupon the frame when desired for use, and which frame and hammock may befolded up into a small compass for transportation or stowage.

Letters of like name and kind refer to like parts in each of thefigures.

A represents a longitudinal bottom piece of the frame, to which arehinged two transverse bottom pieces B and B by means of bolts or rivetsb2. These transverse pieces are ea'ch half of the length of the bottompiece A, and may be turned upon their bolts until they lie parallel withthe piece A, their contiguous ends being beveled so as to fit together,as shown in Fig. III. rlhe transverse pieces when at right angles to thebottom piece A form the base upon which the frame rests, and theirlength and distance apart are sufficient to give great stability andprevent it from tipping' when a person is lying in the hammock.

c c represent two expanding pieces upon which the hammock is suspended.These expanding pieces are bolted or hinged to the bottom piece A, asshown at c c', (one upon either side of the bottom piece,) so that whenexpanded their upper ends will be a sufficient distance apart to suspendthe hammock between them, and when folded parallel with the bottom piecetheir ends will coincide, as shown in Figs. II, III, and IV.

D D are wire hooks, secured by staples CZ to and near the extremities ofthe bottom piece A, which hook or catch into staples (Z2 in theexpanding pieces c c when the frame is open.

E E E E are wire hooks secured to the extremities. of the transversepieces B B by staples e e. These hook or catch into staples e2 el on theexpanding pieces, and act as guys to prevent a lateral movement of theexpanding pieces. These maybe folded to the transverse pieces to whichthey are connected, as shown inv Figs. III, IV, and II.

F F are ropes or cords, by which the extremities of the transversepieces are connected together when the frame is set up for use, as shownin Fig. I, and by which the ham mock may be secured to the fra-me whenfolded, as shown in Fig. VI.

H H are two bars made shorter than the width of the hammock-cloth andhaving hooks or nibs h at their ends. These bars (one at each end) passthrough the hem of the canvas or hammock-cloth in a manner to gather thecanvas and give it the required sack or bag, as seen in Fig. V.

G represents the hammock, made of rubber cloth, canvas, or othersuitable material.

vThe ends by which it is suspended are cut circling and have a widetabling or hein, as shown by the dotted lines g in Fig. V.

I I are straps or grummets which pass around the bars Il and throughproper eyes made in the canvas, and form loops which may be readilyslipped over the ends of the expanding pieces to suspend and hold thehammock. Shoulders are made on the ends of the expanding pieces, whichwill prevent the loops from slipping down.

The strain upon the expanding pieces c c occasioned by the weight of aperson lying in the hammock is partly lengthwise of the timber andpartly in the direction to draw their upper extremities toward eachother, and is resisted by the hooks l) D, which receive the strain inthe direction of their length. The construction of this frame is such asto bind all its parts together and bring the strain upon it in thedirection of the greatest strength of the material used.

The operation of folding and securing the frame and hammock fortransportation or stowage is as follows: The hammock is first taken fromthe frame and folded, the gathering in the ends being let out byreleasing the hold of the nibs, so that it will roll up smoothly. Theguys E are then unhooked and folded up against the transverse pieces, inwhich position they are held by entering holes made to receive them, asshown atj. The rods D are next unhooked and folded down upon the bottompiece, Where they are held by catching against the nibs 7c. Theexpanding pieces c c are then folded down into their places parallelwith the bottom piece A. The ropes or cords F are next disconnected atone end from the transverse pieces, and the transverse pieces

